


Id, Ego, Superego

by SleepieAsh



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: A little bit of angst, Alternate Universe - College/University, Basically a romantic comedy honestly, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, for a project
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-01-09 11:30:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12275541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepieAsh/pseuds/SleepieAsh
Summary: Most people find a significant other in common places: a coffee shop, a party, one of their college classes... Hell, even online dating works for some.Saihara realized he wasn't most people when his psychology professor paired him with Ouma Kokichi, local self-proclaimed supreme leader, for a semester of fake dating.





	1. Id, Part One: Play Pretend

Saihara honestly wasn’t sure how he kept getting into these situations.

Looking back on it, he realized that he probably should have went ahead and substituted the Psychology class for Sociology or something like Kirigiri did, but for some reason, he’d originally thought the class would be fun. He’d always been somewhat intrigued by psychology so when his degree called for taking it (or a similar class), he’d jumped on the chance to take it in his first freshman semester.

Of course, on the first day, he’d walked into the auditorium that the class was held with a smile, head held high, assuming that he’d learn a great deal and apply it at some point in his detective work. At the time, Saihara hadn’t thought that he’d maybe been being too optimistic.

Especially since the first activity the professor had given them was an online exam prior to the first day that seemed innocuous enough. It included personal questions but he assumed that since she was a professional, she’d definitely keep any information confidential.

However, as soon as said professor described a term-long project that involved a series of situations that he’d much rather not find himself in, he found himself wondering if he should drop the class on the first day. At this point, Sociology 101 might be filled, but he could probably find something else to transfer to, right?

“The basis of this project is to assess the reactions of those when they encounter shocking conditions.” The professor continued to explain the project. “Each assigned ‘couple’ will have a catalyst that will trigger the reactions of those around them.”

When she’d discussed those points, Saihara found himself wishing he was one of the “observers.” In a class of around 150 students, there was no way he’d end up participating in the actual study, right?

Wrong.

And that’s how he’d found himself standing at the front of the auditorium with a few other students.

As the professor continued to make rounds in the room, selecting one last ‘couple’, Saihara looked at the other three people who had joined him at the front. They’d all seemed just as excited about the assignment as he had. Which was not at all.

Next to him was a boy significantly shorter than him with purple hair and a wide smile that made Saihara wonder if it was fake or not. He was the exception to the aforementioned excitement.

Immediately on the purple-haired boy’s left was a blonde girl who looked about as nervous as he was. She kept a tiny smile on her face when she noticed him looking at her but it seemed to falter and all but disappear when she remembered the situation she was in.

Lastly, next to the girl was a tall green-haired boy who just kept staring out the window. Saihara couldn’t help but assume that he was thinking about escaping. He wouldn’t blame him if he was.

The professor brought two other girls to the front before turning to face all of them.

“Congratulations, you’ve all been selected to be the participants.” she said with a wide smile. “For your grade, all you have to do is follow the guidelines I give and perform as well as possible.”

Turning back to the class, she added, “As for everyone else, you will observe them. If you see them on campus, you must record what they’re doing and how they’re acting. In class, you will also have the chance to ask them questions and write reports on how the project is affecting them, their families and the other individuals around them. I’ll talk more about that next time. That’s all for today. Participants, please stay behind.”

Saihara watched with envy as the other students filed out of the auditorium. He’d honestly give anything to be one of them. Ever since the professor had selected him to participate, he’d been thinking of immediately going home and dropping the class.

“Sorry for the short notice.” The professor says as they gather around her podium. “I’ll give you guys the official guidelines next time but first, I’ll assign you your partners and your first assignment.”

“Saihara-san, right?” she proceeds, looking directly at him.

He nods. “Yes, ma’am.”

“You’ll be paired with Ouma Kokichi-san.”

Saihara assumed that this “Ouma” was the shorter boy next to him, considering that the boy’s wide smile faltered ever so slightly when hearing of his match. Saihara contemplated on whether or not he should be offended before turning back to the professor.

“I did take into account sexual orientation when deciding who I would pick.” The professor addresses them. “This is why I had you all take the online survey.”

Admittedly, Saihara thought that was a smart move on her part. Even if these romantic relationships were 100% fake and only for a grade, there was no doubt that people would be uncomfortable being paired with someone that didn’t align with how they felt. Despite the fact that nothing would come out of these relationships besides a grade, they still had to present themselves as a couple to the public. Saihara, on one hand, would be perfectly fine paired with pretty much anyone, being bisexual but he inwardly cheered the teacher for thinking ahead for his fellow classmates.

While the professor turned to the others and began to assign them, Saihara turned to study Ouma. He’d kept the same smile on his face for most of the discussion and Saihara wondered if he ever made any other expression. Trying not to judge Ouma too soon, he put on a nervous smile of his own and opened his mouth to address the shorter boy.

“So, I guess we’re paired together, Ouma-kun.” Saihara starts. “I’m Saihara Shuuichi. I’m sure we’ll get along!”

Ouma turned to face him, his eyes locking onto Saihara’s own. “Just make sure not to bore me, Saihara-chan!”

Taken aback, Saihara stuttered out a reply. “O-of course, O-Ouma-kun...”

Ouma brought his hand to his mouth, a wide smile hidden behind it. He chuckled a bit and then turned back to watch the professor.

Saihara took back everything he said.

Anyone else would have been fine but if he was to be paired with Ouma Kokichi, he probably wouldn’t make it out of the class with a good grade.

* * *

The next day, after pouring his heart out to Kirigiri (who had tried the hide the fact that she found his situation amusing), he walked into the Starbucks on campus around 10:30.

After assigning them (Saihara had honestly zoned out for most of the rest of it), the professor had given them the first actual assignment.

Which was getting to know each other.

Saihara was thankful that they weren’t going to jump right into the relationship part yet and actually had a little time. However, he wasn’t exactly sure how this was going to go.

Prior to leaving the auditiorium yesterday, he and Ouma had exchanged numbers with little said between them and agreed to meet up for coffee. Supposedly, they had to just take a picture of the two of them and present it to the professor as proof that they actually went out to learn about each other.

Sighing, Saihara ordered a simple vanilla latte and then settled into a seat at one of the tables in the back. There was currently no sign of Ouma and although Saihara was dreading seeing him, he really wanted to get this part over with. He thought about texting him but didn’t want to seem pushy.

After close to twenty minutes, when Saihara had already gotten his drink and was about to start watching random videos, Ouma burst through the door, looked around briefly and then hurried over to him.

He smiled at Saihara exactly as he had yesterday which Saihara was about 85% sure it was fake a majority of the time. “Sorry, I’m late, Saihara-chan!”

Saihara waved, goodnaturedly. “No problem, Ouma-kun. How was your class?”

“Boring.” Ouma said, rolling his eyes and sitting across from Saihara. “My professor’s an ass and I’d definitely drop the class if it wasn’t required.”

“What’s your major?” Saihara continued. He found that he was actually genuinely curious about that.

“Psychology.” Ouma replied, that same grin plastered on his face. “Yours?”

“Criminal Justice.”

“Oooh,” Ouma said, leaning forward on his palms, suddenly looking quite interested. “What are you going to do with that?”

“Detective work.” Saihara said, blushing slightly. He hadn’t really discussed his plans with anyone besides Kirigiri and his family. He wasn’t sure how Ouma would react. “It kind of runs in the family.”

“Hmm,” Ouma hummed. “Interesting.”

Saihara sipped his drink carefully, avoiding Ouma’s eyes. He pulled the lip of his hat down further. Hearing Ouma be even slightly interested in what he planned on doing admittedly flustered him a bit.

“Why do you do that?” Ouma asked, leaning a bit too close to his face.

“W-what do you mean?” Saihara replied, blushing at the proximity.

“Hide your eyes.” he said, pouting slightly.

Standing up a bit, Ouma reached up and grabbed Saihara’s hat right off his head before he could even react. Saihara let out a small noise of surprise before trying to snatch the hat back from him. Unsurprisingly, Ouma turned away from his grasp and placed the hat on his own head.

Setting his hand under his chin to imitate “The Thinker” pose, he looked at Saihara yet again, “Do I look like a detective, Saihara-chan?”

“Give me my hat back.” Saihara said dryly in reply.

Ouma, not fazed in the slightest, chuckled simply and shook his head. In any other circumstance, Saihara would have thought Ouma was cute wearing his hat but considering that he stole it right off his head, he was slightly irritated with the shorter boy.

“Are you mad, Saihara-chan?” Ouma asked, looking innocent. “I just wanted to try it on!”

“Well, you could have asked.” Saihara said, massaging his temple as he could feel a slight headache oncoming.

So, Ouma Kokichi had yet again surprised him. The other boy was playful, no doubt, but in a way that Saihara wasn’t sure he could handle.

“Wouldn’t have been fun.” Ouma said, smiling.

Saihara took to watching Ouma for a bit while the other boy checked his phone. It was getting close to 11:30 and he was honestly hoping that he could think of an excuse to cut this meeting with Ouma short.

Luckily, his companion was the one to do so.

“I have another class soon so I gotta go.” Ouma said simply. He paused slightly and seemed to hestitate in what he said next. “I’d ask you to walk with me but it’s not far.”

Saihara tried not to let the glee he felt show on his face. “That’s fine, Ouma-kun. We can meet up some other time this week.”

“Alright! See you later, Saihara-chan!” Ouma stood and turned to walk away.

“Wait!” Saihara stopped him. “My hat?”

“Oh right,” Ouma said, touching Saihara’s hat that was still placed on his head. “I think I’ll keep it.”

Saihara was dumbfounded. “...Um, what?”

“We’re dating now, right?” Ouma said, cheekily. “You should be fine with me borrowing your stuff.”

Saihara was at a loss. Ouma was just going to take his hat? With an excuse like that? “We’re not even dating yet.” Saihara managed to get out. “And it’s fake.”

“Fake or not, I’m wearing your hat to my next class.” Ouma said in defiance.

The shorter boy brought his phone out, bringing up the camera app and turned it to the front-facing one. Once he had himself and Saihara in the frame, he said a quick, “Smile, Saihara-chan!” and snapped the picture. Saihara had been too shocked by the previous conversation to even attempt to smile.

“I’ll email the picture to our professor later.” Ouma addressed him, walking a few steps away.

At the last second, he turned back around and regarded the other boy. “You’re decidedly not boring, Saihara-chan.” And with that, he left.

Saihara stared after him until he could no longer see Ouma’s small form through the window. He didn’t notice until then that he’d just been sucking on his straw although his latte had been emptied ages ago.

Groaning, he placed his head in his hands.

Ouma Kokichi was going to be a handful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea came to me while I was in class (lol) honestly. My freshman Psychology class did something similar to this as a semester-long project but it didn't go this far haha. It was mostly an unlikely friendship sort of deal. But, who doesn't love fake dating AUs, amirite? ;)
> 
> Anyway, this is unbeta'd! So let me know if you see any mistakes. 
> 
> By the way, there will be other ships here but I just haven't decided on them yet. And they'll be background as Saiouma is the main ship here. Characters will also be added as I develop the fic. The ones I listed are just ones I know for sure will be introduced.


	2. Id, Part One: Toying Around

The next morning, Saihara awoke slightly irritated and sleep deprived. As he got ready, he acknowledged the dark, heavy bags under his eyes momentarily. That was another purpose his stolen (he used the term loosely considering his companion called it "borrowing") hat had served, covering how much of a mess he was. Groaning, he finger-combed his hair before gathering his items and heading to his Psychology class. At least he'd get the chance to see Ouma there (and demand his hat back).

He entered through one of the side doors and headed to the seat he'd sat in on the first day. Looking around the room, he noticed that there weren't many students there yet. And more importantly, Ouma wasn't yet either. 

Cutting off his thoughts, a pretty blonde walked down the row of seats, sitting to his immediate right. At first, he was throughly confused considering that there were several seats still available, but then he noticed it was the same girl who was participating in the study. She had long, soft-looking blonde hair, light purple eyes and a smile that could light up a room which she'd turned on him.

Against his will, Saihara blushed crimson.

"You too, huh?" she asked. Raising one hand, she gestured to the bags under his eyes, indicating just how exhausted he was. 

Studying her face, he noticed the same tiredness in her eyes that was present in his own. Maybe she was having a hard time with her partner as well?

"Amami-kun and I stayed up talking last night." she explained. "He's a bit strange, but the project may turn out alright." 

Or maybe not.

"O-oh?" Saihara replied, deep disappointment settling within him. So he was the only one having a hard time, huh? 

"Ah, by the way, I'm Akamatsu!" the girl exclaimed. "Akamatsu Kaede!" 

"Saihara Shuuichi." he replied, smiling warmly at her. "Nice to meet you, Akamatsu-san." 

"Likewise, Saihara-kun!" Akamatsu said.

Despite the seemingly permanent dread that had settled into his stomach regarding the situation they were both in, he was happy that the project allowed him to start building a friendship with Akamatsu. He couldn't help, but wonder how things would've turned out if he'd been assigned as partners with Akamatsu. 

As soon as he had that thought, his current partner sauntered into the room, his usual grin on his face and Saihara's hat perched on his head. As soon as Ouma caught sight of Saihara, he literally skipped over to where he was sitting and plopped down on his left.

"Hey, Saihara-chan!" he exclaimed as soon as he was sitting.

"O-ouma-kun..." Saihara managed. "I see you're still wearing my hat."

Ouma seemed to be in the attempt of making a reply but Akamatsu unknowingly interrupted him with, "Ah, that's cute, Ouma-kun! Saihara-kun's hat looks great on you." 

Ouma's eyes seemed to narrow slightly and Saihara guessed it was because of the earlier interruption. However, Saihara was just happy that Ouma's attention was turned on Akamatsu at the time so he could think about a method to get his hat back from the shorter boy. After all, no matter how great it looked on him, it wasn't his. 

Also, he was definitely going to pretend he didn't think his hat suited Ouma. 

"And you are?" Ouma asked. 

Akamatsu introduced herself to him, a smile on her face. Ouma also directed a smile at her. Although... his seemed a bit sinister in comparison to hers. 

It wasn't much longer, Ouma and Akamatsu holding small talk about the project and Saihara lost in his thoughts, before the professor entered the room and made for the front of the classroom to begin the lesson. Saihara kept looking out for Akamatsu's partner (he believes he remembers her calling him Amami), but he still hadn't shown almost thirty minutes into class. 

The professor had opted for a notes-heavy day and the students in the room proceeded to copy slide after slide. The information was pretty basic, discussing the history of several important figures in psychology. Saihara struggled to stay focused on class as Ouma played around with his hat next to him.

Eventually, class was dismissed and with the professor's instruction, he, Ouma and Akamatsu headed to the front to receive the guidelines for the study. Two girls that Saihara vaguely remembered from the first class joined them shortly. One of them had dark hair and a fairly intimidating aura (Saihara could've swore he saw her glare at him and Ouma before turning a smile in Akamatsu's direction) while the other was shorter with red hair and a bored expression pressed on her face. 

The professor handed two copies of the guidelines to Akamatsu, instructing her to handle giving it to Amami. With a nod, she accepted the task.

With that, the professor didn't exactly give them a new assignment so Saihara assumed that the first one was still in affect. The group walked out of the room together shortly afterwards. The two girls broke off once immediately outside and Saihara expected Akamatsu to do the same, but instead, she turned to address the two next to her.

"I have an idea." Akamatsu said, smile in place. "Amami-kun and I were planning on checking out the park downtown later today after our classes. How about you join us?" 

"Oh, um..." Saihara hesitated. Of course he wanted to, but he didn't wanna give Ouma another opportunity so soon to steal another one of his belongings. 

"Ah, you don't have to if you don't want to..." Akamatsu's smile faltered slightly.

Immediately catching on to that, Saihara blurted out (a little too quickly), "We'd love to!" 

"Great! I'll email you the time and where we're gonna meet up!" Akamatsu said. She then proceeded to wave at both of them and exited the building.

Noticing that Ouma hadn't said anything during the entire ordeal, he turned to the shorter boy next to him, opened his mouth and noticed him... sleeping?

"Ouma-kun." Saihara deadpanned. 

Ouma immediately "woke up," blinking several times and turning sleepily to Saihara. He yawned once and then replied, "Sorry, Saihara-chan. I didn't sleep well last night." 

Suddenly feeling bad for waking him up (Saihara had honestly thought he was playing around anyway), he moved to apologize. "Oh, I'm so-" 

"Don't apologize." Ouma said simply. "After all, that was just a lie!" 

" _Excuse me?_ "

"Yeah!" Ouma exclaimed as Saihara just stared at him in disbelief. "Akamatsu-chan is just a bit boring." 

Saihara felt a small bubble of irritation rise in him, but he thankfully forced it down. After all, getting into a stupid argument with Ouma wouldn't get him his hat back. So, instead he just sighed and shook his head.

"Okay, well, Akamatsu-san invited us to a park." he informed Ouma.

Ouma seemed quite uninterested in accompanying their two classmates to said place, but nodded anyway in return. "As long as I get to wear your hat more." 

Saihara didn't know whether to be surprised or not by Ouma actually extending his time with Saihara's hat in exchange for going along with Akamatsu and Amami. Nevertheless, Saihara just closed his eyes momentarily and then turned back to the other boy.

"Yeah, sure." he said. "I'll text you."

And then, forcing down the dread that was growing within him, he turned away and exited the building.

* * *

Later that day, the four of them met up at one of the campus entrances. Saihara was the first to arrive, taking a seat on one of the nearby benches as he waited for everyone else. Akamatsu and Amami had arrived together with Akamatsu giving him a general rundown of what happened in class that day. Saihara made a mental note to ask the green-haired boy why he hadn't attended today. Finally, a few minutes late, Ouma jogged up to them, grinning although he'd clearly just ran far to make it to them and still wearing Saihara's hat.

"Oh?" Amami says, looking at Ouma. "It seems as if you two are quite close already." He gestures towards the hat. "Wearing each other's stuff and all."

"Actually, he took that from me yesterday." Saihara says, dryly. "And I'm still trying to get it back."

"You haven't asked!" Ouma said, pulling the hat down even further.

"Ouma-kun, may I have my hat back?" Saihara gave in.

"Hmm... nope!" Ouma exclaimed, laughing. "Maybe after our park visit!" 

With that, he skipped ahead of everyone else. Saihara trailed behind, looking more tired than ever. Akamatsu and Amami followed shortly after, both of them slightly amused with the two boys in front of them. 

As soon as they arrived at the park, Ouma immediately locked onto the ice cream cart that was parked on the edge next to the entrance. Seemingly excited, he turned to Saihara, exclaiming, “I’ll treat you to ice cream, Saihara-chan!”

As much as Saihara just wanted to let Ouma do as he pleased, he knew this was just something else for the purple-haired boy to do in exchange for keeping his hat longer. And Saihara wasn’t gonna let that happen.

“No, actually, I’ll treat _you_ to ice cream.” Saihara stated, already heading over there.

Ouma’s face had showed something akin to shock before it quickly disappeared and he fell into step alongside Saihara with a single affirmation. Saihara got them both simple vanilla ice cream cones before rejoining Amami and Akamatsu. 

The two in question had stopped underneath a large tree where Amami leaned against it as Akamatsu talked excitedly about something.

Coming closer, Saihara heard that she was just discussing what would happen next in the project.

“Obviously, she’ll have us hold hands and hug and stuff, but…” Akamatsu trailed off at this, a pink blush settling on her cheeks. “Is she gonna have us _kiss_ and all that?”

Taken aback, Saihara came to a dreadful realization that he hadn’t thought of that. 

“It’d be more surprising if she expected us not to, honestly.” Amami supplied. “Although, we don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. We could always fake it for the pictures.”

Akamatsu nodded. “You’re right. That shouldn’t be too hard.”

“What about when we’re in public, Akamatsu-chan?” Ouma spoke up, licking at his ice cream cone. “The professor wants everyone to observe us. They could definitely tell her about that and then we’d get poor grades. Then what would you do, Akamatsu-chan?” 

“Ah…” Akamatsu seemed at a lost. “I guess I’ll ask the professor for sure if we’re expected to be _that_ friendly.”

Laughing softly, Saihara thought about what he’d do in the situation, considering that he and Ouma didn’t seem to get along as much as Akamatsu and Amami. At least that’s how it was on his side of their relationship. Nevertheless, he definitely needed to think about it. How far in a fake relationship would he go for a good grade?

“Saihara-kun, you’ve got a scary look on your face.” Amami said. “Are you alright?”

“Yes.” Saihara answered, putting a hand onto his forehead. “I’m just gonna go sit for a bit if that’s okay.”

Without waiting for a response, Saihara went to the nearest bench and proceeded to rest. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Maybe it wasn’t too late to drop out of the study. He wanted a good grade, sure, but what was he gonna do with someone like Ouma Kokichi? Clearly, the other boy wasn’t gonna cooperate with him no matter how Saihara thought about it, and Saihara was getting more and more restless with Ouma’s antics. 

It’d honestly been a while since he’d had so much direct eye contact with people and it was a little jarring. Being forced into the situation was even worse. He knew Ouma just liked toying with him (or maybe he really did just like his hat), but he figured if Ouma wouldn’t even do the simplest thing like give him his belonging back then he definitely wouldn’t be able to communicate with the other boy about the project.

Sighing, Saihara sat up straight, opening his eyes and noticed Akamatsu approaching him. Amami and Ouma were standing side by side next to the tree, Amami gesturing to Saihara and speaking quietly to Ouma. 

Saihara felt the cold of his ice cream suddenly and realized that it’d been melting over his hand for who knows how long. Reaching over, he tossed it into the trash and licked the rest off before regarding Akamatsu.

“Are you okay?” she asked, plopping down beside him.

“Yes.” he replied. “Why do you ask?”

“I can tell something’s wrong.” She leaned back and spoke to him lowly. “Is it about the project and Ouma-kun?”

“Not…particularly.” he answered. Seeing the disbelief on her face, he changed his words slightly. “It’s not _only_ that.”

“Hmm…” Akamatsu hummed. “What is it about that hat?”

Saihara stared at her, wondering how she could see through him that easily. He thought about making something up, but figured that definitely wouldn’t work because she’d ultimately figure out it was a lie. So, sighing, he told the truth.

“I don’t like looking people in the eyes.” Saihara replied. “Might be anxiety, might be just fear of rejection… I don’t really know, but having a full day of being expected to do it has been… overwhelming. Usually, I’m able to hide my eyes.” At this, he made a gesture of tipping an invisible hat. “However, with Ouma-kun playing around with me, I’ve been forced to adapt.”

He looked away, not wanting to see the look in Akamatsu’s eyes. Surely, she wouldn’t want to be friends with him after that. 

“Well, honestly, I don’t know what to say to that…” she started.

Saihara was about to turn around and apologize to her and decide to never mention it again when she continued.

“But, don’t worry about it!”

Confused, all Saihara could muster was, “What?”

“Yeah!” Akamatsu exclaimed. “You seem perfectly awesome to me without all the eye contact.”

At this, she looked him directly in the eyes and smiled. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but Saihara found himself feeling more at ease looking at Akamatsu than he had in a while. 

“Plus, your eyes are such a nice color!” she continued. “You shouldn’t hide them anyway.”

A compliment. A blush spread across Saihara’s cheeks and he reflexively brought his hand to his head to hide under his hat. Remembering that it wasn’t there, he lowered his hand and watched as Akamatsu laughed quietly at his mistake. She had an infectious laugh that eventually pulled him in too.

In their mirth, they didn’t notice Ouma and Amami watching them, Amami a smile on his face and Ouma’s expression unreadable. Eventually, the purple-haired boy pulled Saihara’s hat off of his head, not bothering to smooth his hair back into place and pushed it into Amami’s hands before proceeding to leave the park. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOPS.
> 
> You can slowly see Saihara's patience wearing thin as the chapter goes on LOL.
> 
> I won't say if Saihara's feelings for Akamatsu are platonic or romantic, but you guys can definitely try to guess. ;) I will say that she definitely made an impact on him at the end of the chapter.
> 
> This chapter should make it a bit easier for you guys to guess some of the background pairings. BUT, those aren't set in stone. The only pairing that's endgame in this fic right now is Saiouma. Everything else is subject to change, but you can try to piece together who I'm planning on at least having a connection to each other as of right now.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter and thank you for all of the comments and kudos on the first chapter. I didn't think I'd get that much support so early in the fic so I appreciate it so much!!
> 
> (ALSO I HAVE NO IDEA IF AMAMI USES HONORIFICS??) 
> 
> Tumblr - sleepieash.


	3. Id, Part One: Enigma

Saihara awoke with muddled feelings.

The previous day had overall been enjoyable. He felt as if he had found a friend in Akamatsu after he confided in her. She was nonjudgmental and easy to talk to which made him find it very easy to look forward to the next time the two of them got the chance to hang out. Unfortunately, Psychology wasn’t scheduled for today.

Sighing, he moved away from his pleasant thoughts to the feelings of negativity. While he and Akamatsu had been chatting, Ouma had somehow slipped away from the park at some time. When he’d discovered this, he’d felt a small surge of irritation considering that the other boy had once again ran off with his hat. However, Akamatsu’s compliment had come to mind and he forced any anger he felt towards the shorter boy down. 

Still, it was strange to him that Ouma had left without saying anything. Amami had commented that it looked as if he wasn’t feeling well which had Saihara feeling a bit guilty. He felt it all the more so when Amami presented him with the hat Ouma had thrust into his hands abruptly. This led Saihara to send Ouma series of text messages, asking about his wellbeing and apologizing as he’d accused (inwardly of course) the other boy of something he hadn’t done.

After he’d left Amami and Akamatsu at the park, he’d still had yet to receive a reply from Ouma and therefore, sent him one more text before falling asleep.

Now, Saihara blinked the sleep from his eyes and checked his phone for messages.

_3 new messages._

He navigated through them carefully, looking for any response from Ouma.

**_Akamatsu Kaede –_ _8:34 PM_ **

_Today was fun, Saihara-kun! Let’s hang out again! ♫_

**_Kirigiri Kyouko – 9:45 PM_ **

_Hey, how’d your date go?_

**_Kirigiri Kyouko – 9:52 PM_ **

_Come on, it couldn’t have gone that bad._

Kirigiri calling his "outing" yesterday a date was jarring in itself, but what created an even worse feeling for him was that none of the messages were from Ouma. 

Running a hand through his hair, he locked his phone and opted instead to work on some homework considering that he only had one class later on in the day. At some point, if he didn’t get a reply from Ouma, he could always try calling him although the thought of it made him slightly anxious. 

Ever since he was little, he’d held an aversion to phone calls if they weren’t from family members or close friends. The awkwardness when there was a lull in the conversation as well as lack of body language due to not being in person always put him on edge. He’d gotten a little bit better about it as he got older and would give the occasional call if it was necessary. 

But was it really necessary to get in contact with Ouma?

“Of course it is.” he muttered to himself. “I have to see if he’s okay.”

Finding himself unable to concentrate on the book he’d set in front of him, Saihara picked up his phone once more and scrolled until he found Ouma’s contact information. He hesitated for a bit before swallowing down his anxiety and pressing the green call button.

Saihara counted the rings as he waited for Ouma to pick up. After the sixth one, it became apparent that the other boy wasn’t near his phone or just frankly didn’t want to talk to him so he promptly hung up, rather than waiting for the purple-haired boy’s voicemail. 

He felt a coldness settle in his veins at the thought that something might have happened to Ouma. It was a possibility since Amami had stated that he wasn’t feeling well. Although, Saihara had thought of it more emotional than physical.

In the back of his mind, however, Saihara entertained the thought that Ouma preferred to not speak with him more and more. But why? Going over his thoughts, he couldn’t find any instance from the previous day that would have made Ouma upset with him. 

Becoming frustrated, he sent one more text to Ouma before proceeding to bury himself in work.

* * *

The reply comes close to 9 o’clock, 8:54 to be exact. He didn’t expect it, but the simple reply, “Okay,” is more than enough for Saihara as he shrugs on a light coat and slips his feet into his shoes.

Afterwards, he locks the door to his dorm room and walks swiftly to the seating area outside of the university’s union.

The text he’d sent Ouma earlier had been simple: “Meet me outside of the union at 9. We need to talk.” Honestly, at the time, he’d expected him not to answer. And in the end, if he didn’t, Saihara had vowed to himself that he would have found out where Ouma lived (hopefully, on campus as he did) and went to visit him himself.

Although, that might’ve been a bit creepy,  _right?_

Running a hand through his hair (he’d opted to go without his hat even to see Ouma), he approached the benches. Considering it was so late, there weren’t many students around. A few were chatting at one of the tables on the side, but otherwise, he seen no one else.

Walking a little further, he caught sight of a solitary figure seated on one of the benches at the end. He walked quickly over to confirm if it was the other boy.

Surely enough, Ouma Kokichi sat, staring at the screen of his phone. His face was illuminated by said screen and Saihara caught a glimpse of an expression he’d never seen before on his partner. 

And that was one void of all expression. 

In the short time Saihara had known Ouma, he knew that the other boy relished in the reactions of other people and therefore, he made damn sure to show his own regularly. So, seeing his companion looking like this, eyes downcast and indifferent was new and Saihara had to admit that he didn’t quite like it. It was unsettling to say the least and he even found himself wishing Ouma would smile even if it was fake.

Something was surely wrong. 

“Hey.” Saihara greeted him, taking the seat to his right. 

Ouma startled as if he wasn’t aware of Saihara coming to meet him. He turned to the taller boy slowly and blinked several times. And then his signature smile spread across his face. Saihara almost wanted to sigh in relief.

“Hey, Saihara-chan!” Ouma exclaimed. “How are you?”

“Let’s skip that.” Saihara chose to say instead of replying. “Why didn’t you answer any of the texts I sent you? Or when I called you earlier?”

Ouma’s brow seemed to furrow in confusion. “Oh, I was just busy! Sorry about that!”

“You could have at least sent me _something._ ” Saihara said, exasperated.

At this, Ouma placed his elbows on his knees, leaning in his head into his hands. “Aww, were you _worried_ about me, Saihara-chan?” 

“A bit!” Saihara admitted, frustrated with the way Ouma was casually handling the situation. “Amami-kun told me you weren’t feeling well so when you didn’t respond, what was I supposed to do?”

“Hmm…” Ouma replied, seemingly in thought.

“Anyway,” Saihara continued. “I did want to thank you at least.”

“For what?” his companion asked.

“My hat.” he answered.

“Oh…” Ouma’s grin faltered slightly. “No problem, Saihara-chan!”

The two fell into silence. Saihara used the time to think about what he was supposed to say next. He wasn’t particularly good at comforting people, especially those that hid their feelings so well behind one emotion like Ouma. However, Saihara knew something was wrong with him, but he didn’t know how to approach the topic.

With a sigh, he wondered what Kirigiri would do in the same situation. Considering how much more effective she was at being analytical than him, he had half a mind to think that she would’ve figured out the reason without asking. 

But, he wasn't Kirigiri and she wasn't here to coach him on what to do so naturally, he had to do it on his own.

"What's wrong, Ouma-kun?" Saihara took the straightforward approach and just came out with his concerns.

Ouma plastered his smile back in place. "What do you mean, Saihara-chan? Nothing's wrong!"

"That's a lie." Saihara said simply. "I may not be able to tell when you're lying all the time yet, but now is obvious. And I have a feeling that you wanted me to figure that out."

"I don't know what you mean." Ouma replied.

"Listen," Saihara started. "I'm not really good at this and I have reason to believe you aren't either." At this, he gestured between the two of them. "This talking thing since we don't know each other very well. But, if I did something wrong, I'd like to make it right..."

He trailed off as Ouma's eyes bored into him.

"Really?" Ouma asked. "You seemed just fine with Akamatsu-chan yesterday. 

"Akamatsu-" Saihara stopped short.

Was it possible that Ouma was _jealous_? Of Akamatsu? Was that even possible with how things were between them? They were basically strangers who had only come together because they'd been thrown into a project. They could become friends, sure, but they were nowhere near that. So what was the real problem Ouma had with Akamatsu?

"Do you not like Akamatsu-san?" Saihara asked. 

Ouma shook his head. "Eh, that's not necessarily it. She's really boring though!"

Saihara resisted the urge to sigh. "Then what is it?" 

Ouma said nothing in response, clearly wanting little to do with the conversation topic Saihara had brought them into. However, it'd only been a little over a day and Saihara had already grown tired of Ouma giving him the "silent treatment" so he was determined to get to the bottom of what was wrong.

"Come on." he said. "We'll get nowhere if we don't talk about it."

"Would you rather have her as a partner?" Ouma asked.

Saihara gaped at him. Where did that come from?

"W-what do you mean?" he forced himself to get out.

"I'm difficult to deal with, aren't I?" Ouma continued.

His smile was gone again and Saihara suddenly felt his anxiety come back full force. Yes, Saihara wondered frequently how they were going to complete the project with the way Ouma acted around him, but it was way too early to decide whether or not they weren't suitable partners. The project hadn't even actually started yet, but Ouma was already thinking that Saihara would be better off with someone else.

Bringing a hand to his head, he kneaded his temple, already feeling a stress-induced headache forming. "No, no, I never sai-"

"It seems like you're already sick of me."

Saihara felt his blood run cold. It was all his fault. How could he have been so stupid? Ouma wasn't jealous. Of course he wasn't. It was just the way that Saihara had been treating him that had him like this. 

Looking back, he realized that he had been treating Ouma differently as soon as Akamatsu had been introduced into his life. But, it hadn't had anything to do with Ouma himself (besides Saihara's annoyance with him refusing to give back his hat) and rather with the fact that he was happy to have a friend to confide in. Ouma had probably felt, however, that Saihara had been ignoring him in favor of Akamatsu when that wasn't what he was trying to do at all.

"O-ouma-kun," Saihara tried to find the right words. "I'm so sorry..."

"For what?" Ouma looked genuinely taken aback by Saihara's apology.

Saihara grit his teeth and tried to swallow down the overwhelming guilt inside of him. "For ignoring you. I wasn't trying to, honestly. Yesterday, Akamatsu was helping me feel less...ah...insecure."

"Hmm," Ouma mused. "So that's why you hide your eyes. I thought so."

"Yeah." Saihara nodded. 

"You're not wearing your hat today." Ouma said, gesturing to the taller boy's hair.

Once again, Saihara nodded. "I feel less uneasy about it now."

"Is it because of what Akamatsu-chan said?" Ouma asked, looking at him.

Saihara pondered for a moment. It was because of Akamatsu but also...

"And you." he replied after a moment. "If you hadn't taken my hat in the first place, I wouldn't have even tried to face my fear." 

At this, Ouma grinned at him and Saihara found that it was the happiest (without seeming forced) he'd seen the other boy since he'd sat down to speak with him. Honestly, it made him a bit warm inside to know that he'd lifted his spirits at least a little bit. Especially, since his being thoughtless was the reason why Ouma had felt down in the first place.

It _was_ true, after all. No matter how Saihara had felt because of Ouma’s actions, it _was_ him who had set everything into motion. And although he had a long way to go before actually feeling comfortable, Saihara already noticed a definite decrease in how nervous he felt looking at other people. And that was something he felt he needed to mention to the other boy.

“You’re kind of a mystery.” Saihara thought out loud.

“Hmm, you think so, Saihara-chan?” 

Saihara nodded although he knew the question was largely rhetorical. “I can never figure out exactly what you’re thinking and you don’t seem that willing to tell me.” He laughed softly. 

Ouma only hummed in response. He seemed preoccupied with something so Saihara turned to look at him.

Suddenly, he found himself staring at the other boy. Ouma had taken to staring at the many stars overhead. His face was illuminated by the dim lights in the seating area and Saihara blinked in wonder. Ouma’s expression seemed so unguarded and the look in his eyes was one Saihara knew well considering that he frequently held the same one. Maybe Ouma was just as worried about how they’d complete the project like this as he was.

“Ouma-kun,” he started. “I’m going to make an effort to understand you.”

Ouma’s furrowed his brows as he turned to Saihara. “Do y-“

“I want to understand you.” Saihara interrupted. “We’re stuck in this project together after all. Maybe we can become friends like Amami-kun and Akamatsu-san are.”

The shorter boy stared at him silently and then smiled, turning away. “A liar like me is able to pick apart lies pretty well, Saihara-chan.”

Saihara opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Ouma suddenly leaning in towards him. “So, you can join my evil organization!” he exclaimed. “After all, you’ve definitely proved that you can keep me entertained!”

Saihara couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up. “An evil organization? Well, _that’s_ a new one. Although, I could see you being a dictator.”

“What is _that_ supposed to mean, Saihara-chan?” Ouma whined, but he was smiling as he watched Saihara.

The two of them stayed out talking for a bit longer before bidding each other farewell and Saihara felt for the first time that he and Ouma were getting somewhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M ALIVE GUYS. (Although, it's almost 3 AM rip me)
> 
> This chapter was actually pretty fun to write since there was some interaction between our two main characters, haha. If you didn't catch it at the end, Ouma is aware Saihara isn't lying to him, but he's also telling him that he'll know if he ever does. 
> 
> But, they're on their way to becoming friends! Are you feeling the slow burn yet? LOL 
> 
> Thanks for bearing with me, everyone, as I try to write this, work on Nanowrimo and complete my college assignments ;-; Updates will unfortunately be slow, but I'm not giving up on this fic!
> 
> Also, thank you guys so much for all of the comments, kudos and bookmarks! It means a lot to see so many people interested :)
> 
> Tumblr - sleepieash.


	4. Id, Part One: With a Hitch

Saihara felt immensely better about the project when he greeted Ouma the next time in Psychology. The two of them sat side by side with Akamatsu to Saihara’s right and Amami to hers. Akamatsu had noticed a change in them and brought it up to Saihara almost immediately when class had started.

“Are you two getting along better?” she whispered as the professor began to lecture.

“We, uh…” Saihara started, trying not to delve too much into what was a private conversation between him and his partner. “We talked about some stuff that was bothering us.”

Akamatsu smiled warmly at that. “I’m glad!”

They remained quiet for the remainder of class and Saihara found himself glancing at Ouma every once in a while during it. The other boy seemed quite concentrated on the lesson and Saihara found it nothing short of amusing that Ouma was so serious when it came to the subject he was passionate about. He mentally noted to ask Ouma about what he planned to pursue after graduation. After all, the shorter boy knew he wanted to be a detective, but he hadn’t asked about him. Although, a psychologist was at the top of his list of guesses.

When class had ended, Amami gestured for them to follow him up to the front of the auditorium.

“I remember Akamatsu-san saying she wanted to ask the professor about how intimate we had to be.” Amami offered as explanation. “Now would be a good time.”

As the group approached the front, Saihara thought back to the day the project was assigned. He was sure that there had been another group besides he and Ouma and Amami and Akamatsu. The two girls from before if he wasn't mistaken. Since the initial assignment and the giving of the guidelines, he hadn’t seen much of them. They didn’t sit by each other in class and were gone as soon as the professor dismissed them. He couldn’t help but wonder if they’d be okay.

“Professor,” Akamatsu addressed as they approached. “We had a question to ask about the project.”

The professor looked up from her notes and turned her full attention to them. “Yes?”

Akamatsu flushed slightly. “Considering that this is a project involving a romantic relationship,” she sighed deeply. “How far are we supposed to go with our partners?”

Their professor furrowed her brows. “What exactly do you mean?”

Saihara could basically feel the embarrassment flowing through all of them and he thought that this would be probably the worst time for Ouma to speak up. Of course, since the world was against him, that’s exactly what happened.

“Like, are we just supposed to hold hands and stuff?” Ouma latched onto Saihara’s arm at this and he found himself in too much shock to pull away. “Or are we also supposed to kiss and…ah, go further?”

Saihara wanted to die.

The professor even seemed surprised that Ouma had gone that far, but gained composure quickly. “The project is designed so that you may make your own judgement.” she replied. “However, I do expect to see documented proof of the more tame things such as holding hands or hugging whether that be a picture or a written description provided by a classmate.”

She leaned back and shuffled through her notes that Saihara guessed contained the project guidelines. “As far as kissing goes, it’s in the guidelines, but if you’re not comfortable with that, you don’t have to do it. Do note that you’re expected to convince the people in your life that you’re actually in a relationship though.”

Saihara felt himself freeze. He’d expected to have to pretend for classmates and around campus and such, but assuming she meant friends and family, this was the first he’d heard about it. Of course, Kirigiri already knew about his assignment, but he hadn’t told any family members and if they were expected to pretend for them too, he was glad he didn’t. But also, how was he going to do that?

“I’m sorry,” Amami spoke up. “We’re expected to keep this up in front of our _family_ too? Like our parents?”

The professor nodded. “I’m not sure if I explained it well enough in the guidelines…” The group in front of her shook their heads. “At some time in the semester, I’d like for you to meet each other’s parents or guardians and you are to introduce your partner as your significant other. When the study is over, you may explain to them that it was for a grade.”

“How does this have anything to do with the basis of the project?” Ouma asked and Saihara just noticed that the shorter boy had his arm in a tight grip. It seemed that even Ouma was affected by the terms as well.

“You are involved in a study, Ouma-san,” the professor replied. “You have to decrease the possibility of error. Therefore, you have to minimize the number of people who could interfere with the purity of the results.”

“Basically, we won’t get as accurate results for reactions if they’re aware we’re not actually dating.” Amami said quietly.

“Precisely.” The professor responded.

Saihara took the time to let all of this sink in. If he were to visit home, he was expected to bring Ouma with him to meet his family. He was sure by now that he wouldn’t survive this project.

“Just take it one step at a time.” The professor continued. “It’s still quite early in the semester so you have time to coordinate how you want to proceed with the project. Plus, there are several other things that I have to introduce later.”

She smiled at them. “You guys have the easy part. All you have to do is participate and you will get graded well.”

With that, she turned away from them, ending the conversation. Akamatsu and Amami shared a look before moving to exit the classroom. Saihara followed after them, Ouma still clinging onto his arm with a look of disdain. The four of them stopped outside of the classroom with an air of tension.

“My parents are going to wonder why I never told them I was dating someone.” Akamatsu broke the silence, laughing awkwardly.

Amami smiled in response. “Yeah, my dad is going to have a lot of questions.”

Saihara scratched the back of his head in discomfort. “My parents are overseas, but they don’t even know I’m bi so…”

“Oh no, Saihara-kun, what are you going to do?” Akamatsu asked, her tone worried.

“It’ll be alright.” Saihara reassured her. “I currently live on campus, but if I were to go home, it’d be to my aunt and uncle and they already know.”

He watched as Akamatsu let out a breath of relief and turned a smile in his direction. Her concern caused him to warm inside and he was suddenly happy that he had a friend like her to rely on.

Saihara turned to Ouma who hadn’t said a word and asked him of his parents.

“Ah, nobody will care.” Ouma replied, waving off the question.

“So your parents already know you’re attr-“ Saihara started.

“Gay? Yeah.” Ouma interrupted with a slight smirk. “Well, not my parents, but the people who I call family, yes.”

The other boy seemed to end the conversation there and Saihara didn’t press. There seemed to be something Ouma didn’t want to talk about or at least not talk about with Akamatsu and Amami there so Saihara let it go and resolved to talk to the other boy about it at a later time. For now, it seemed as if none of them would have trouble with their parents but the anxiety over telling them about the fake relationship while still pretending it was real was something that all four of them experienced.

After a bit of them casually chatting, Akamatsu and Amami bid them farewell. Saihara watched them go, noticing how Akamatsu grabbed Amami’s hand after they’d walked a bit before letting go abruptly. He couldn’t see the blush on her face but it was surely there. After listening to whatever Amami said to her, she allowed him to grab her hand this time and the two walked hand in hand away from the building.

Saihara felt a twinge of something inside but ignored it, not necessarily aware of what it was. However, the fact that Amami and Akamatsu had already started trying to move the project along gave him a sense of urgency. Should he try to do the same with Ouma? Even though he felt a nervousness settling within him?

One look at Ouma and the look of indifference the other boy had gave him his answer. He’d try to take that step later. Instead, he turned to the shorter boy fully and addressed him.

“Ouma-kun, do you live on campus?” he asked.

Ouma blinked up at him a few times. “I do. Why?”

Saihara swallowed roughly and tried to level his voice. “C-can I walk you b-back?”

Saihara watched as Ouma’s signature smile spread across his face as he answered, “Sure!”

The taller boy breathed out a sigh of relief and followed Ouma as he skipped out of the building. Laughing to himself, he found that he thought his partner was somewhat cute at times like this when he showed excitement over seemingly nothing. Nevertheless, he still flushed as soon as that thought entered his mind and was happy that Ouma currently wasn’t paying much attention to him.

“By the way, Ouma-kun,” Saihara said once he’d composed himself and the two of them had begun walking in the direction of the dorms. “Do you plan to become a psychologist after you graduate?”

“Hmm,” Ouma said, seemingly in thought. “Wouldn’t you like to know, Saihara-kun?”

A rhetorical question but Saihara still nodded in response to it.

“Actually, it’s just that it was either psychology or sociology!” Ouma exclaimed.

Saihara was at a loss. “Uh, for what reason?”

“For me to take over the world, silly!” Ouma replied, looking even happier. “You can even be one of my subjects.”

Saihara was sure that Ouma was playing around with him but he decided to go along with it anyway. After all, they were supposed to be becoming friends. So with that, it meant that Saihara had to entertain Ouma’s thoughts of world domination.

“Oh really?” Saihara asked. “I’m honored.”

“You should be!” the other boy replied. “I may even let you rule with me if you keep me entertained.”

Saihara laughed at his words. “I’ll try my best.”

The two of them exchanged words about Ouma’s eventual subjugation of basically everyone before walking into Ouma’s building and up to his door. Saihara surveyed the door as Ouma brought out his key to unlock it, seeing his partner’s name as well as the name “Kiibo” listed next to it. So, Ouma had a roommate.

“Do you want to come in and meet him?” Ouma asked, following Saihara’s eyes to the listed names on the door. “He’s a bit boring, but not as boring as Akamatsu-chan.”

Saihara ignored the jab at his friend and figured ‘why not?’ Eventually, he’d have to meet most of the people in Ouma’s life so why not start with his roommate? After giving his confirmation, Ouma pushed open the door and ushered Saihara inside.

He took the chance to take in Ouma’s room.

Since Saihara didn’t have a roommate, his room was significantly smaller. Ouma’s definitely had the room for two people. There were two beds parallel to each other in the room, one lining the right wall and the other on the left. In front of them were desks for each one which were covered with miscellaneous objects. Saihara also noticed a TV placed on top of one of the armoires in the room. Almost immediately next to the dorm entrance was the door that led to a bathroom. That was probably the only thing his room had in common with Ouma’s. Each dorm room on campus contained its own bathroom.

Walking a bit further, Saihara noticed a boy seated at the desk on the right side of the wall. He wore a black tracksuit, had striking white hair (Saihara wondered if it was dyed) and was buried in a book. Ouma wandered over and threw an arm around the boy.

“Hey, Kiiboy!” Ouma exclaimed.

The other boy barely acknowledged Ouma’s presence before trying to shrug his arm off and replying, “Hello, Kokichi. Can you please let me study?”

Saihara jolted a bit in surprise at hearing Ouma’s first name. As well as the fact that Ouma had called his roommate by a nickname. The two of them must have been close to be on that naming basis. It was a bit jarring to say the least. He and Kirigiri had known each other for years now and still called each other by their last names. Although, Kirigiri had told him to call her Kyouko and he’d just been in disagreement. Not because he didn’t want to but rather because he had so much respect for her that he felt as if he shouldn’t. Nevertheless, Saihara figured that maybe he could at least try soon considering that Kirigiri occasionally called him Shuuichi.

“I have someone to introduce to you!” Ouma said, seemingly tightening his grip around Kiibo.

The seated boy’s attention finally turned to Saihara and he gave him a simple once-over. Saihara balked a bit under his green eyes. He felt like he was being analyzed.

“A friend of yours?” Kiibo asked.

“He’s my, ah…” Ouma seemed to hesitate and fluster slightly. “Boyfriend…”

Saihara felt surprise spread through him and then slight embarrassment as Kiibo’s eyebrows rose in question. He hadn’t realized that actually being called Ouma’s boyfriend would affect him that much. Ouma himself had even seemed a bit reluctant to say it to his roommate, but they had to deal with the lot they’d been given.

“U-uh, y-yes!” Saihara said, face still burning. He thrust a hand out in front of Kiibo. “I’m Saihara Shuuichi! It’s nice to meet you.”

Kiibo looked from his hand to his face and then nodded simply, smiling. He grasped his hand in his own and Saihara wanted to jump back from how cold the other boy’s skin was. “I’m Idabashi Kiibo, but you can just call me Kiibo, Saihara-san.”

Saihara found this a good opportunity to bring up his prior thoughts. “So have you and Ouma-kun known each other a while? I noticed you use each other’s first names…”

Kiibo grinned at this. “No need to be jealous, Saihara-san!”

Saihara felt his face heat up once more and moved to retort. “I-I was just c-curi-“

“No problem.” Kiibo interrupted and Saihara figured he was starting to see some similarities between the boy and Ouma. Kiibo seemed to also find his reactions humorous but in a much more amicable manner than his roommate. “We’ve been together since elementary school.”

“Oh, wow.” was all Saihara managed since he wasn’t expecting that.

Although Saihara hadn’t mentioned Kirigiri to Ouma, he’d thought that maybe his partner would mention someone as important as a childhood friend to him earlier. But, considering how standoffish Ouma was occasionally when it came to his own life and feelings, Saihara thought that it probably fit right with his personality. In the back of his mind, a twinge of something brought a thought up that maybe Ouma just didn’t really trust him yet. Which was understandable considering their situation, but it still had Saihara feeling slightly disappointed.

“Yeah, Kiibaby’s been following me around since!” Ouma exclaimed, leaning on his friend even more. “I’m surprised he didn’t follow me to my major.”

Kiibo scoffed. “What would I do with a degree in Psychology?”

“I don’t know,” Ouma said, leaning back in mock offense. “What are you gonna do with a major in Engineering, idiot?”

“I have a minor in Robotics!”

“You’re basically a robot yourself. Why do you have to take classes to build and destroy your own useless kind?”

“Hey, that’s _robophobic_!”

The other boy looked so offended at Ouma’s words that Saihara wasn’t sure if he was joking about robophobia or if he was completely serious. Nevertheless, he watched the entire exchange with amusement and couldn’t stop the laugh that burst through as the two continued to bicker.

Both of them stopped their arguing and turned their attention to the taller boy. Saihara immediately stopped when he felt their eyes on him and smiled sheepishly.

“I can tell you two are close.” Saihara commented awkwardly, a bit uncomfortable with both of them watching him.

Ouma and Kiibo shared a look and as a smile began to paint Ouma’s face, Saihara felt like he was intruding upon something quite personal, but smiled nonetheless. It was good to see Ouma be so comfortable with someone.

Kiibo suddenly cleared his throat and leaned away from his friend. “I have to finish studying for my physics quiz so please put some distance between us.”

“You’re no fun, Kiibo-chan!” Ouma pouted but turned to Saihara anyway.

“Okay, Kokichi.” Kiibo said simply as he moved to turn the page in his textbook.

Saihara figured he should be getting back to his own room so he headed towards Ouma’s door with him in tow. The shorter boy closed the door behind them and then looked to Saihara expectantly, most liking looking for his impression of his roommate.

“Kiibo-kun seemed nice.” Saihara announced, the first name feeling foreign on his tongue.

“By nice do you mean robotic and lacking all human emotion?” Ouma asked.

“He seemed pretty expressive to me.” Saihara answered.

“This is him on a good day.”

Saihara chuckled at the response lightly.

He figured that this would be a good time to bring up Kirigiri to Ouma. After all, Ouma had introduced him to a friend and it’d be only right to at least mention how important she was to him.

“I also have someone like Kiibo-kun.” he said.

“A robot?” Ouma asked in supposed excitement.

“Uh, no.” Saihara replied, eyebrows furrowing. “A person who has been my friend for a while. Not as long as you and Kiibo-kun though. Her name is Kirigiri Kyouko. She’s basically like a sister to me.”

“Oh.” his companion said, pouting slightly.

“Yeah.” Saihara replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know it might not be as interesting as a childhood friend, but she’s the one who motivated me to pursue a career in detective work.”

“Hmm,” Ouma hummed. “That actually is pretty interesting. She must be important to you.”

At Ouma’s words, Saihara’s mind began to wander a bit. He’d first met Kirigiri in high school when his uncle’s detective agency teamed up with her family’s. She had been a senior while he was a freshman but already so talented. Everyone boasted on her and he didn’t know why until they’d met and he’d seen her work on a case. And yet, someone like that had taken notice of him and praised him. Without her, he doubted he would have had the confidence to even think about becoming a detective.

“Yeah, she is.” he said simply.

“In that case,” Ouma started. “Let me meet her, Saihara-chan!”

“U-uh…” Saihara was a bit taken aback by his enthusiasm. “S-sure!”

“Yay!” Ouma exclaimed, jumping up and down a bit.

Saihara tried to fight the smile that was threatening to come through, but since they’d worked out their previous problem, it was hard for him to be in Ouma’s presence and not smile.

“I’ll let her know.” he told the shorter boy. “For right now though, I should probably get going.”

Ouma sobered up from the excitement and nodded.

Saihara took in the other boy’s messy hair, slightly flushed cheeks (probably from all the jumping around) and wide smile and figured it was probably time to bring up what the professor had discussed with them earlier. At some point, they’d be expected to act like a real couple, holding hands while walking, hugging each other goodbye, possibly kissing, etc. so it’d be wise to talk about it with Ouma.

But as Saihara moved his hand slightly to grab Ouma’s and breach the topic, he felt a nervousness settle inside him that forced his hand back. Even in a fake relationship, he found himself scared of rejection.

Ouma seemed to be waiting for him to do something, _anything_ so instead of going through with his original plan, Saihara ran a hand through his hair to calm his nerves.

“I’ll talk to you later, Ouma-kun.” Saihara said, choosing to look at his feet rather than directly at Ouma. Otherwise, the embarrassment over his internal conflict would spill out and the situation would be worse.

“Okay, Saihara-chan!” Ouma replied.

With that, Saihara turned on his heel and began walking down the hallway. He felt Ouma’s eyes on his back until he turned the corner and headed for the dorm building’s elevator. The fear from before settled down almost immediately but disappointment easily took its place.

How was he going to eventually get anywhere with the assignment if he couldn’t even do something as simple as hold Ouma’s hand? When Akamatsu and Amami had done it, it’d looked so easy, but when the time actually came, it was unfairly difficult. Saihara could already feel a warm flush of shame overcome him as he thought of even just bringing it up to his partner. After all, who was _this_ afraid of doing something that was supposed to come easy?

He could already hear the teasing (albeit usually quite gentle) he’d undergo when he brought this up to Kirigiri. She’d comment on his social awkwardness and he’d retort that she was somewhat the same way. They’d laugh but Saihara knew the problem would still go unsolved. Because although Kirigiri was highly talented, even she couldn’t fix something like that.

Walking out of Ouma’s building, he turned his attention to his phone. He had to inform Kirigiri of her eventual meeting with Ouma so what better way to do so than while venting about his failure.

“Ouma-kun wants to meet you.” he wrote out once he’d opened his messenger.

The reply came only minutes later as he continued his walk to his dorm room:

**Kirigiri Kyouko – 3:22 PM**

_Oh? You two must have gotten far._

Flushing slightly, Saihara replied, “Don’t say it like that. You know this is all fake.”

**Kirigiri Kyouko – 3:25 PM**

_Yeah, it’s just fun to joke around about it. :) Did you two get closer though?_

With a sigh, he gave her a summary of what had happened recently between the two of them, finishing with him meeting Kiibo and the awkwardness of attempting to start the project.

**Kirigiri Kyouko – 3:30 PM**

_It’ll get easier. Take Makoto and I for example._

Frowning, Saihara sent back, “You and Naegi-san are an _actual_ couple.”

**Kirigiri Kyouko – 3:33 PM**

_Using our interactions as reference makes it more realistic since we’re actually dating._

**Kirigiri Kyouko – 3:34 PM**

_Maybe I should bring him along when you introduce me to Ouma-kun._

After thinking about it, Saihara figured that it’d be easier for him to talk about the things they were supposed to do if Kirigiri and Naegi were there to reference. Nodding to himself, he sent his agreement to Kirigiri and stated that he’d text her about details later.

Once inside his dorm, Saihara collapsed onto his bed and just thought.

Him being nervous stemmed mostly from his nature, that he already knew, but what else was it? He speculated that it also had to do with the fact that it was all pretend so it was difficult for him to show any kind of romantic affection for someone that he didn’t hold those feelings for.

Groaning, he rolled over and closed his eyes. It was going to be a long semester.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I'm finishing this up at almost 5 AM so please excuse the mistakes!)
> 
> This chapter was about 4K words? I'm thinking from now on, updates are going to be fairly longer as we get into the actual project part of the fic. Which means more awkwardness from Saihara's part and more Ouma making everything difficult (sometimes on purpose, sometimes not LOL) C; 
> 
> I love me some platonic Kiibouma so there's going to be some of that in here. I tried to write Kiibo true to character but he's a bit of a hard one for me. Let me know what you guys thought? 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and as always, thanks for reading and thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all of the support!!
> 
> Tumblr - sleepieash.


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